43. Gambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859 ―Eastern Mosquitofish― Exotic

Taxonomy. Original description: Gambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859:62 [ Palatka, eastern Florida, (Palatka, eastern Florida and Charleston, South Carolina), U.S.A.; Lectotype: ANSP 6976 ]. Synonyms: Haplochilus melanops Cope, 1870; Gambusia modesta Ahl, 1923; Gambusia myersi Ahl, 1925 .

Status in the Arabian Peninsula. First record from Saudi Arabia by Al-Kahem-Al-Balawi et al. (2008); confirmed by Freyhof et al. (2020).

General distribution. North America: Atlantic and Gulf Coast drainages, eastern U.S.A.; widely introduced elsewhere for mosquito control. Habitat: freshwater, brackish.

Distribution in the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia: Al-Ahsa Oasis as well as the adjacent Al-Asfar Lake in the eastern province. Also, in Wadi Hanifah in Riyadh province, Al-Kharj and Layla Lake.

Economic importance. No commercial importance. It can be used to control mosquito population.

Reasons of introduction. Biological control of mosquito.

Conservation. Not relevant (introduced species).